Fate

Immediately they ran through the threshold, Igor and Sven were instantaneously transported to a random section of the desert. It all looked the same but no student was in sight.

Igor could smell it. Each daemon that was currently in the desert along with them. Fifty, no a hundred. Even though he wasn't familiar with the classes, he knew that daemons of a slightly higher class than the one he had fought earlier were in the mix.

Sven was also startled though not outwardly showing it his grip on Igor's hand tightened. He let go and pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket, they weren't poker cards or anything of that nature. Igor was sure he had never seen cards like that before, each card was plain except for the top which bore an elemental symbol on it. Each card was different in appearance though some had the same elemental symbol as others Igor could say for sure that there were about three cards for each of the seven elements.

"One hundred and ninety-eight remaining." Gladius's voice echoed through the entire desert, though no one could pinpoint the source of the sound. The origin would be the sound link Gladius has to the desert since it was created using her mana, she also had a bird's eye visual link of it which she shared with Emirus who sat down inside the sky tree.

"I don't want to die. Please! Please!" A voice screamed from inside the desert before abruptly stopping as a large thud was heard.

"One hundred and ninety-seven remaining"

Igor felt sick, so much so that he zoned out. He had taken his first hunter exams at Nox and the task was to kill one daemon in less than an hour. What was this? he could smell the overpowering stench of blood from everywhere in the desert. One hundred and eighty-four students remain. This wasn't a test, this was a massacre. It's been less than five minutes and sixteen students had been murdered. "Igor!" He held his breath, if he took in another he would surely have thrown up. He had lived in Havenstale for two years and he had seen things that no other person should ever witness for as long as they live but somehow that didn't hold a candle to this. "Igor!" even though some of them were unprepared and anxious this is just cruel. "Igor!! Move Goddamnit!"

Igor came back to reality once he received a kick to the gut, he fell on the ground coughing up what he thought were his intestines. "Keep your head in the game!" Sven threw a card at the daemon and it exploded on contact. "Spacing out here means immediate death." He slid under its legs and threw two cards at its feet which exploded this time on a delay of five seconds. "Now tell me, Igor. Are you going to survive?"

Igor took his sword out of the scabbard puffing heavily from the kick but still composed enough to fight. He waited, surveying the fight looking for an opening to strike and immediately Sven noticed this. He created one.

[Battle magic act two: Ravaging flames], By infusing his mana into the three fire-sealed cards. Sven could recreate the fire spell despite not having an affinity for the element. The three cards on contact with the daemon's skin exploded, lathering it in flames that burnt the fur off its skin. "Now!" Igor sprinted at the daemon clasping his sword with both hands. [Battle magic act two: Thunderbolt], with the speed of lightning Igor's blade spliced through the daemon's abdomen like it would cheese.

"That's the spirit," Sven said as he fell to the ground panting due to an immediate loss of mana. "Just stay focused next time."

"Sorry, are you okay?"

"I'll live."

Emirus added two names to his book as he looked at the students through Gladius's link. "A half daemon and a member of the Ianbris family, intriguing."

Screams could be heard from each corner of the desert at some point it became normal to hear them along with occasional bits of Gladius's voice which announced the number of remnants after every ten casualties.

"Igor Dragonstead, one kill. Emma Kilforhlm, two kills. Micah Deux'raal, five kills. Leonard Hollowhound, five kills. Ashae Haldia, six kills. Mael Ianbris, ten kills." Gladius for the first time announced the total kill count for the top hunters.

"Your brother?" Igor asked as he slid his sword into its resting place.

"No...." Sven coughed. "A member of my clan is all."

Igor looked straight into the desert, he could smell it. At the edge of the domain was a daemon of a higher caliber. If five people were to fight it at the same time, only one person would survive and that would still be a miraculous event.

The air was tense, filled to the brim with provoked anger and the overpowering smell of rosemary. S-Rank hunter Roman was one of the first hunters in the world, alongside four other hunters they successfully killed the first daemon. Back then hunters were outnumbered and outmatched, magic acts and mana control were but new concepts and daemons appeared to be getting stronger with each defeat giving them less and less time to learn.

Alto von Gaia, also known as the creator of  Vancrest and god to some people who believed he saved the world because he was essentially the patient zero that showed the world how strong daemons were.

Liric stood by one of the two chairs propped up by the desk. Directly opposite Roman now he couldn't lie that he wasn't nervous. Grabbing a chair, twisting it, and sitting down improperly on it Liric made himself comfortable in the office that smelt like the inside of a funeral home.

"Why is he here?" Roman said slowly. Though no one would believe it, the geezer was older than two hundred. Sustaining himself with healing magic that was cast every second of the day. He managed to cheat death but not even healing magic could cheat old age and the drawbacks it brought the body.

"He was saving people, doing a better job at it than most hunters," Liric said while looking Roman dead in the eyes, he couldn't see anything. Just dark holes that occasionally glimmered with blue.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't terminate you right now."

"You can't, you know all too well that if I and you were to fight now your body would give up first gramps."

"You led a daemon into the school meant for killing them, sometimes I think about the decisions you young'uns have and want to vomit." Roman looked towards the window and Liric stopped moving.

"A strike squad for me? Oh, you shouldn't have." Liric said while simultaneously gauging the strength of the people outside. "Ten B-Rank hunters and one cheeky A-rank. I'm surprised Airi agreed with you on something."

"I have ways of convincing my students, even for tasks like this." Roman looked at the window again and each person behind it withdrew. "So now Titanfall, tell me why I shouldn't terminate you and the little shit-stain you brought into my school."

"Aren't you curious?" Liric asked with a smile that depicted pure insanity.

Roman stayed silent.

"Aren't you curious to know the full potential of a daemon that can utilize it's mana?" Liric's smile was now a grin. "Daemons aren't like us, they can easily increase their mana pocket and are you sure you don't want a weapon that has no limit?"

Roman stayed silent, perhaps in thought. A controllable daemon would certainly prove useful but there was only one way a daemon could increase it's mana. "Has any hunter been eaten by him?"

"Apart from his father? I'm still investigating that, but surely you don't want to use that as a reason to kill him." Liric discontinued his grin. "Hundreds of students die in this facility every year, on your orders."

Roman didn't move, he had his hands clamped on the table and that's how he kept them but Liric could feel it. Roman was enraged and Liric knew exactly why. The creator of the exams was the now-deceased Alto von Gaia.

"I won't say this again son of Ylra, if you bring slander upon any of the founders again. I promise to bury you in the same ditch as your father."

Liric was the strongest hunter in the world, that was an unrivaled fact but not even he could go unscathed in a fight against Roman.

"Let's make a deal boy, I'm sick of you being in my presence so let's end this. Give me the advent of mist and I'll allow your half-daemon to roam about freely." Roman had a frown on his face, he knew how much the advent meant to Liric but if he wants the daemon to have its freedom. That should be a sacrifice he's willing to make.

Liric was angry inside but didn't show a hint of it on his face. The advent of mist was the last thing he had as a Titanfall but he would make the sacrifice. "If I may ask, what do you want with the advent of mist."

"That doesn't concern you Titanfall, do we have a deal or not."

"We have a deal." Liric got up and walked towards the door.

"One more thing Titanfall, if that daemon of yours attacks anyone in the school then what?"

"He won't, but if it ever comes down to that." He opened the door and put his foot through it. "I'll kill him myself." He shut the door behind him.